In your arms
by WOLD
Summary: When she finally woke up, hours later, she felt warm and safe. She turned on her side moving closer to the heat, only to realize that the heat was coming from Bellamy. They had fallen asleep after their talk, exhausted. Bellamy's arm was holding her close to him and she could not bring herself to wake him.


Clarke poked her head out, into the cold, making sure their was nobody around to watch her step out of Bellamy's tent. She had been waking up before dawn everyday for the past month in order to avoid being found out. She could still recall perfectly the day their relationship had started to change, it was a few days after Charlotte had jumped off the cliff and Murphy had been banished. Still emotional about Wells' death and the added burden of being in charge resulted in nightmares every time she closed her eyes. Looking back on that day, she realised she never asked him how he came to be in her tent, maybe her sobbing had drawn him in; for whatever reason he came in to find her trashing in her sleep and gripping her covers like her life depended on it. He came to her side and woke her up as gently as he could.

'What's wrong? Is someone hurt? Let me get my stuff.' She remembers immediately thinking that something must have happen, their would be no other reason for Bellamy to be kneeling next to her bed with a worried expression painted on his face.

'Clarke calm down, nobody's hurt.' She stared back at him, if nobody was hurt then why was he here.

'You were having a nightmare. From the looks of it a pretty bad one.' His statement confused her. Not because she didn't believe him, she knew about the nightmares. They had started that night when they came back to camp without two of their people. She felt responsible for what had happened, no matter how much she disliked Murphy, if she had stayed quiet and let Bellamy handle it, things might have turned out differently. She was confused because no matter how bad her nightmare had been she couldn't understand why Bellamy cared. But here he was inches away from her with a concerned look on his face.

'Thank you for waking me up, its fine now, I'm used to it.' A flash of some unknown emotion appeared in his eyes. If she had to put a name to it, she would say that it was understanding. Was Bellamy suffering from nightmares as well? Was the burden of leadership weighing on his mind? He got to his feet and headed towards the opening in her tent, before walking out he abruptly turned around to look at her.

'If you ever want to talk about, you can come and find me.' Then he was gone.

-:-

When she woke up covered in sweat for a third night in a row, she finally took him up on his offer. She had, initially, dismissed the idea of going to Bellamy for comfort. Instead she tried to keep herself as busy as possible in order for her to be completely exhausted when night came. She even tried talking to Finn about it, but quickly realised her mistake. He simple did no understand the pressure that came with having 100 people depend on you and look to you for everything. Especially the younger ones, the looks of fear that they gave Clarke haunted her most nights. Bellamy was the only one who could understand what she was feeling. She walked straight towards his tent, it was so late that the rest of the camp was deserted, but once she reached it she hesitated. What if he had forgotten about his offer or worst what if she found some girl in there with him. Going back to her tent and spending the rest of the night awake seemed like a worst option, after barely sleeping for the past couple of days she needed to try something, anything to get past this. She was relieved to find nobody inside with him; she took a few steps towards him hoping it would be enough to wake him up. However, he seemed to be in a deep slumber and she was reluctant to wake him. His face was handsome, it was impossible to deny, but seeing him like this, looking so vulnerable it made him look all the more appealing. Despite the fact that their was only one torch in the tent, she could clearly see every freckle on his face, it made him look younger. She turned to walk back to her tent not wanting to disturb his sleep. She could wait till morning to talk to him.

'What can I do for you, princess?' He hadn't moved from his spot on the bed, hadn't even opened his eyes.

'Can we talk?' She hadn't intended to sound that desperate, but the weakness in her voice was obvious and Bellamy straightened up immediately. He patted the empty space, on his bed, next to him and she sat down relieved that he hadn't turned her away. She sat in silence for a few minutes, unable to voice how she was feeling.

'Are you still having nightmares?' she nodded, 'Its not easy being in charge.' He didn't say this to upset her, his eyes were sincere and she got the feeling by the slight tremor in his voice that maybe he was also having some. From that point on everything changed, she let everything she had been feeling out and Bellamy just sat quietly listening to her ramblings. When she was done she felt like a weight had been lifted after sharing her concerns and fears, she was surprised how much comfort Bellamy was giving her. Her surprise, didn't end there, once she was done poring her heart out to Bellamy he started doing the same. He had been feeling the same way she had, he also hadn't been sleeping well, tortured by the decisions he'd made so far and the mistakes that tormented him. They talked late into the night and for the first time in a long time she slept without a dark cloud over her head. When she finally woke up, hours later, she felt warm and safe. She turned on her side moving closer to the heat, only to realize that the heat was coming from Bellamy. They had fallen asleep after their talk, exhausted. Bellamy's arm was holding her close to him and she could not bring herself to wake him. So she laid there, wondering what this meant for them, would they go back to hating each other or would this new found tentative friendship survive. She tried to wiggle out of his grasp without waking him up, but was unsuccessful he just held on to her harder.

'Good morning princess, sleep well?' She didn't even have to look up to know that he was smirking, clearly pleased to find her wrapped around him. She couldn't bring herself to say anything other than 'yes' she had sleep well, better than when she was in her cell up on the ark.

'Good' was his only reply, before getting up and walking to the front of his tent. 'I'll go make sure the coast is clear.' He winked at her and walked out. From that day on things started to slowly shift between them. They no longer argued when it came time to make decisions, it became more a debate considering all the options before coming to a decision together. She grew to respect Bellamy not only as a leader, but also as a person. He cared about the 100, he always made sure everybody had everything they needed and everyday he made improvement meant to keep them all safe. She found herself looking for him in the crowd, following his every move with her eyes until he caught her staring. He never said anything, he only smiled back at her, making her heart beat faster. If he was handsome when he slept it was nothing compared to how he looked when he gave her a genuine smile. She found that she craved them and didn't want him to give them to anyone else. Of course Octavia was the only other person he ever truly smiled for, she had became an expert in distinguish between his genuine and his forced smiles. During the day she had to share him with everybody else, but at night all his attention was on her and her alone. They had formed a good routine, every night when the rest of the camp was asleep she would sneak into his tent, they would talk about everything and nothing. Once they were both exhausted he would open his arms up to her and they would fall asleep in each other's arms. The more time she spent with Bellamy, she realized, just how smart and clever he was. Not only when it came to protecting them, but every little insignificant problems she brought up he always had wise advice to give her. She hoped that she was giving him as much support as she was receiving. Every time he seemed unsure or regretted a decision she made it clear that she was behind him 100%, that she trusted him. That's when she realized how much he had come to mean to her. She had been arguing with Finn, something that seemed to be happening more frequently, when she first spoke those words.

'I don't think it's a good idea Clarke, teaching the younger kids how to use a knife. Remember what happened with Charlotte.' That comment made her wince, of course she remembered. When they had first landed her and Finn had become easy friends and she had wondered if maybe they had a chance of becoming something more. She was really glad now that nothing had happened; because Finn had apparently left a girlfriend up on the ark and she had risked her life to come down to find him. If something had happened it would have become incredibly awkward.

'Look Finn I don't know why you're even talking to me about this, if you have a problem with Bellamy's training sessions bring it up with him.'

'It's not like he's going to listen to me.'

'Well I think the lessons are a good idea.' She noticed Bellamy was at the entrance of the drop ship listening to them, she wondered how long he had been watching them. She wasn't entirely sure if the following words were meant more for Finn or Bellamy, but she knew she meant them. 'I trust him, Bellamy would never do anything to put our people in harms way, so back off.'

'You can't be serious.' She was, but she didn't get a chance to tell Finn because Bellamy finally made his presence known. She didn't stay long after that, she already had a headache form listening to Finn objections once, she had no intention of going through that again. That night, as she was on the brink of sleep she felt Bellamy kiss the top of her head and whisper to her, 'I trust you too, princess.' Her heart soared at his words, she fell asleep knowing that her feelings for Bellamy had developed into something more and that scared her, because she didn't think he would ever look at her that way.

-:-

Clarke had spent all morning in the drop ship preparing for her excursion this afternoon. With Monty's help she had been cataloguing all the plants that had healing properties. Her, Bellamy and Monty were supposed to go out to gathered more, her reserves had been getting low recently. She had been looking forward to spending some time with him, but things didn't quite turn out as plan. Miller ended up being the one to follow her and Monty around in the woods. He was keeping a close eye on her and she knew it was because Bellamy had ordered him to keep her safe. Bellamy would normally not let her leave the camp without him by her side, but they were running low on meat and Bellamy was by far the best hunter. Initially Bellamy had refused to let them leave without him, it had led to a fight, but she stood her ground and was finally able convince him. Her sound reasoning had finally gotten the better of him. They were too low on certain plants that were essential in treating injuries, and he knew injuries were frequent with this crew. Despite, agreeing to let her leave camp without him, he had taken Miller to the side warning him that if anything happened to her he would have to deal with him. In those moments she had hope that maybe he did care for her more than he led on, but she didn't want to get too excited, maybe he was just worried to lose the only medic the camp had. They were walking back when a boar came out of nowhere, running directly towards them. They had noticed it too late, Clarke managed to push Monty out of the way, but the beast rammed into her making her lose her balance. As quickly as it had appear the creature disappeared back into the forest.

'Clarke, are you ok?' Miller was frantic, he keep whispering under his breath, 'Bellamy is going to have my head for this.'

'Don't worry Miller, I'm fine, I think I just twisted my ankle. Would you mind helping me up.'

'Yes, yes of course.' She tried walking on it, it was painful, but the bones seemed to still be in place. She was lucky. Miller helped her back to camp and brought her into the drop ship.

'Ok, just leave me here, I'm going to wrap it, it should help with the pain.' Miller seemed wary to just leave her like that, but she finally convinced him that it might be best if he was nowhere to be found when Bellamy returned. It would have been impossible not to notice the moment Bellamy returned to camp with all the commotion he caused.

'She's what? You saw her limping? Where the hell is Miller?' This was not going to end well, she wondered if he was ever going to let her leave without him after this. After a few minutes he entered the drop ship, fury in his eyes. He walked up to her to access the damage. Once he seemed satisfied by what he found, he looked up. His eyes no longer held any anger, all she could see in them was concern.

'Bellamy, I'm fine, its just a …' She didn't have time to finish her sentence, because Bellamy's lips were on hers. After the initial shock, her lips started moving against his. As the kiss intensified she wrapped her legs around him and her hand found itself tangled into his hair pulling him down closer to her. His hands were on her lower back desperately trying to pull her close to him. She had never experience anything like this, she could feel him all around her and it still felt like it wasn't enough. When they finally pulled apart Bellamy pressed his forehead against hers, gazing into her eyes.

'Don't ever scare me like that again.'

'I'm sorry, the boar came out of nowhere, it was acting crazy, like he was running for his life.' Bellamy looked down after hearing this, a look of guilt crossing his features.

'Hey, what's wrong?'

'We were chasing a boar, we grazed it with a spear, but he took off. It might have been the one that attacked you, its my fault you got hurt.'

'Bellamy look at me you can't hold yourself responsible for everything that happens, even if it was the same boar I'm fine, look nothing's broken just a little bruised that's all. Please we have enough to worry about, without you worrying about me.'

'But I can't help it! It's all I think about how to keep you and Octavia safe. When you're not with me I worry where you are, who you're taking too, if you're safe.'

'Bellamy.' His name just rolled off her tongue, she was filled with so many different emotions, she didn't know what to say.

'When you started sharing my bed it was convenient, you made my nightmares stay at bay, but after awhile I just couldn't imagine sleeping without you by my side. You make me want to do better, try harder. I don't think I could survive without you next to me.' Sharing his feeling seemed to take a lot out of him; he was leaning on Clarke, unable to stand properly on his own. His head was resting on her shoulder, hiding his face.

'Bellamy, look at me.' At first he didn't move, so she moved her hand to lie on his cheek trying to get him to look up. When he still didn't budge, she lowered her lips to his ears and whispered to him, 'You're a stubborn ass half the time, but I need you, I can't do this without you. Please look at me.' Her words finally got to him and he looked up at her. 'I love you Bellamy Blake.' That's all it took for his smile to return and for them to start making out again.

-:-

He was waiting for her to come to him, and he was getting impatient. Miller, who had come to apologize for letting Clarke get hurt, had interrupted them, earlier. They had jumped apart and luckily Miller was too ashamed to look into Bellamy's or Clarke's eyes, that he missed the blush that appeared on their cheeks. He was still pretty angry with him for not being more careful, but a stern look from Clarke let him know that it would be best to just let him off the hook, so he did. It was crazy how much this girl had changed him over the past few weeks. He had found himself smiling more for no apparent reason. He had stopped flirting and inviting other girls in his tent, Clarke was the only one he wanted to wake up next to. Being wrapped all around her made him feel like he was floating, his heart was at peace for once. Maybe his feeling for her went back to that first night they spent together, he had not wanted to let go of her in the morning. But most importantly he felt that together, side-by-side, they could survive anything. He still couldn't believe that she _loved him. _Hearing her say those words was incredible. She accepted him, good and bad, and she loved him. He suddenly realized that he hadn't said it back. He was pacing in his tent waiting for her to show up, he needed to make it clear that he loved her back and that he wanted them to be together. Finally his patience ran out, it was never one of his best traits. He found her near the fire talking to Monty, probably about some plant. She was so focus that she didn't see him walking up to her, until he was right in front of her and those soul piercing blue eyes looked up. He didn't give her the chance to say anything; he pulled her up and kissed her with as much passion as he could muster. He could hear a few gasp behind him, a few of the guys were cheering him on and he could swear he heard Octavia murmur, 'Finally.' But none of that mattered, only the girl in his arms did. When he let her lips go, he whispered in her ear, 'In case that wasn't clear, I love you too, princess.' She smiled back at him and they walked hand in hand into what had become their tent.

The end


End file.
